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Democrats maintain control of Senate, thanks to GOP missteps

Independent Angus King celebrates with a splash of champagne after winning the U.S. Senate seat in Maine vacated by Republican Olympia Snowe. He is expected to side with Democrats, who will maintain the balance of power in the Senate.

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WASHINGTON — Democrats secured a majority in the Senate yesterday, snatching Republican-held
seats in Massachusetts and Indiana and turning back fierce, expensive challenges in Virginia, Ohio,
Wisconsin and Connecticut to maintain the control they’ve held since 2007.

With a third of the Senate up for election, Republicans were undone by candidate stumbles. GOP
hopefuls in Missouri and Indiana uttered clumsy statements about rape and abortion that severely
damaged their chances and the party’s hopes of taking over. The losses of Senate seats in
Massachusetts and Indiana, combined with independent Angus King’s victory in the Republican-held
Maine seat, put the GOP too far down in its already uphill climb.

Democrats held open seats in Virginia, Wisconsin and New Mexico, and were leading in North
Dakota shortly after midnight. The only pickup for the Republicans was Nebraska, where Deb Fischer
denied former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey’s bid to return to the Capitol.

Democrats entered the night with a 53-47 edge, including two independents who caucus with them.
After midnight, Democrats controlled 52 seats to the GOP’s 44 with three races still outstanding
and King saying he hasn’t decided which party he will align with.

In charge again, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans brought defeat on
themselves with their preoccupation with denying President Barack Obama a second term.

“Things like this are what happens when your No. 1 goal is to defeat the president and not work
to get legislation passed,” Reid said.

The results were a bitter loss for the GOP and are certain to prompt questions about the promise
and peril of the tea party movement, which just two years ago delivered a takeover of the House to
the GOP.

In 2010, three tea party Senate candidates in Nevada, Delaware and Colorado cost Republicans
seats they were favored to win. Yesterday, a tea party-backed candidate in Indiana denied the GOP a
seat that the party had been favored to win, while Fischer and tea party-backed Ted Cruz of Texas
prevailed in their races.

In Massachusetts, Democrat Elizabeth Warren knocked out Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who had
stunned the political world in January 2010 when he won the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s seat.

In Missouri, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill was considered the most vulnerable incumbent, but
Republican Rep. Todd Akin severely damaged his candidacy in August when he said women’s bodies have
ways of averting pregnancy in instances of “legitimate rape.”

The results ensure plenty of new faces in the Senate, many of them familiar from the House.
Republican Rep. Jeff Flake won in Arizona and will join Democratic Reps. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and
Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. In Wisconsin, Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin defeated former
four-term Gov. Tommy Thompson and will become the first openly gay senator.

In Maine, King prevailed over Republican Charlie Summers and Democrat Cynthia Dill in the race
to replace Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe.

King has resolutely refused to say which party he’d side with if elected. But members of both
parties have indicated that they expect the former Democratic governor and Obama supporter to align
with Democrats. Reid reached out to him last night, said a Senate aide.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey survived a scare from businessman Tom Smith, who
invested more than $17 million of his own money in the race.

Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy won the Connecticut Senate seat held by Sen. Joe Lieberman, the
independent, over former wrestling executive Linda McMahon.

In Texas, Republican Cruz won the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Cruz will
become the third Latino in the Senate, joining Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Marco Rubio,
R-Fla.

In Florida, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson triumphed in his bid for a third term, holding off a
challenge from Republican Rep. Connie Mack.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders won a second term in Vermont. Democratic Sens. Sheldon
Whitehouse in Rhode Island, Ben Cardin in Maryland and Tom Carper in Delaware were all re-elected.
Also cruising to another term were Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, Kirsten Gillibrand
in New York, Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota, Dianne Feinstein in California, Maria Cantwell in
Washington state and Menendez in New Jersey.

In West Virginia, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin won a full term. Tennesseans gave Republican Sen.
Bob Corker a second term. Wyoming voters did the same for GOP Sen. John Barrasso, and Republican
Roger Wicker captured another term in Mississippi. In Utah, Sen. Orrin Hatch won a seventh
term.